help w/ amp choice

[thill]

New to site. Have narrowed down some of my amp choices Halo's, B&K, and Gemstone. Need some more help in regards to power choice. I am running Monitor Audio Gold's across the front w/ Silver surrounds (www.monitoraudio.com), a Vel. DD-12 as sub, and a denon 3803 AVR, Pioneer DV-45A. Looking for more clarity, detail, soundstaging, etc., not really db's. Room at 24' x 15' x 12'H, set up across the 24,' w/ several openings. I know that it is better to have more power than not enough, but am concerned with over driving the silvers with some of these choices. No local dealer for me to listen to these either. As this is the Halo site, please give opinion of the halo's with my speakers and if the 125W is enough or the 250W is safe w/ the silvers. oh yeah, will be useing the denon as a pre for now.
thanks for any comments

[mitch57]

Are you talking about a stereo or a 5.1 system? Depending on which system you are talking about I would go with either the Halo A21 for stereo or the Halo A51 for the 5.1 system. Or if your budget allows you might want to consider two JC 1 monoblocks if it's stereo.

Not enough power just won't cut it. To much power is just right!

[thill]

5.1 set up. budget will be >$3000.00. So a b-stock A-51 sounds like the ticket. Any issues buying b-stock as long as it is from a authorized dealer? At what point would it become an issue of "to much power," or is that totally dependant on how "loud" one turns up the volume?
thanks for the input!

[MichiganMike]

I purchased a b-stock A-51 from an authorized dealer and have been very pleased. The full warranty supplies peace of mind and the price was close to a used unit without a warranty.
IMHO you are more likely to have a problem with your speakers when driven by a less powerful amp that is clipping at high volumes. My A-51 drives relatively small center channel and surround speakers without the speakers exhibiting any distress. The crossover to the sub at 80 hz in my system (and possibly in yours) makes it unlikely the woofer of the speakers will bottom out.

[mitch57]

I purchased a b-stock A-51 from an authorized dealer and have been very pleased. The full warranty supplies peace of mind and the price was close to a used unit without a warranty.
IMHO you are more likely to have a problem with your speakers when driven by a less powerful amp that is clipping at high volumes. My A-51 drives relatively small center channel and surround speakers without the speakers exhibiting any distress. The crossover to the sub at 80 hz in my system (and possibly in yours) makes it unlikely the woofer of the speakers will bottom out.

:agree:

[craig sowerby]

Hi,
We stock GR monitor audio and the rest of the range, are your silver surrounds SFX? i woudnt see any issues using a A51/21 with any of the MA range as long as you apply some common sense on the volume, GR i think will work well with Halo amps, We used four Cyrus MonoX monoblocs on GR10's in our demo rooms and had no issues with too much power, in fact i found i could run them at higher levels without any problems.

Good luck.
Craig

[bhuskins]

Being that I sell Halo and Monitor Audio, I figured I should chime in...

This is a great combo and the A51/21 works very well with the Silver and Gold series from MA. Definitely a great choice. Also, the new 5250 in the NewClassic sounds excellent with the MA's. Don't discount the fact that it's not Halo. It's the best amp value out there currently.

As far as b stock goes, it typically is a great deal. As of this evening, Parasound has C1/C2 and A21s in stock (b stock). This changes day by day. If anyone is ever interested in b stock, just send me an email and I'll check the availability.

Speaking of Asheville, I was just in Cashiers, NC preparing a Home Theater for an end of the year install. Nice part of the country.

Brent Huskins
Media Design
HT Guide Sponsor
817.300.1223


Also,

[misterdoggy]

what exactly does "B" stock mean ?

[Peter Nielsen]

what exactly does "B" stock mean ?

It means that the unit was delivered to a customer (or maybe only to the dealer) and then returned to Parasound for whatever reason. B-stock units may have been serviced to correct a problem and/or they may have minor cosmetic defects (scratches).

Peter

[Pieter]

Brent, I like the HIP look you gave Peter.

His Avatar is way to formal, stuffy and prude, the quintessential engineer; BORING.

Maybe you should do wardrobe for him!?

[Peter Nielsen]

Brent, I like the HIP look you gave Peter.

His Avatar is way to formal, stuffy and prude, the quintessential engineer; BORING.

Maybe you should do wardrobe for him!?

Engineers don't have time to worry about clothing :B White shirt and black trousers work well - especially here in the Bible Belt :twisted: My everyday clothing in the picture doesn't upset anybody -- contrary to my OCC T-shirt and bandana, that evidently really upset the Sheriff when he stopped me for accelerating too hard in my Corvette... ops: Too bad for me that I didn't were my normal clothes on that day :M

Clothes tell a lot about you and looks are a well known cause of prejudice...

Peter

[bhuskins]

Nothing like having a little fun...

Brent Huskins
Media Design
HT Guide Sponsor

[Peter Nielsen]

Nothing like having a little fun...

Yeah, I can't deny that your photochop is funny :T :B

Peter

[Pieter]

Clothes tell a lot about you and looks are a well known cause of prejudice...
Peter

You said it.